Z-News October 2016
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Newsletter of the NEWS Zilker Neighborhood Z Association Z Austin, Texas OCTOBER 2016 Established 1981 Traffic Sewers with Trees ZNA Election Meeting What’s in the transportation bonds for Zilker by Lorraine Atherton, ZNA Newsletter Editor October 24 CRITICS OF THE MAYOR’S TRANSPORTATION bond package Monday 6:30-8:30 pm have labeled it “deceptive, dishonest, and destructive,” at based largely on conflicting views of the corridor plans. Zilker Elementary School Whether the bonds pass or not on November 8, the South Lamar Corridor Plan is important to ZNA; it may 1900 Bluebonnet serve as a blueprint for the future of the neighborhood. It’s time to remember what we wanted from a corridor ZNA Officer Election (page 9) plan and try to understand what was and was not rec- ommended by the lead consultant, HDR Engineering. Travis County Commissioner Precinct 3 Candidates The HDR recommendations seem to be based on the “traffic sewer” model of transportation planning, treat- District 5 Council Member Kitchen and City staff on the South Lamar ing streets, bike lanes, and sidewalks as pipelines that Corridor Improvement Plan, traffic must collect and carry away their load as quickly as congestion, and special event parking possible. In the plan, HDR does not analyze South La- in the neighborhood (page 5) mar travel patterns or east-west circulation in any use- ACL Fest Feedback (page 5) ful way, and it does not address the effect of thousands Holiday Families Program (page 8) of new apartment units, intensified commercial activity, Foundation Communities and changes in park and entertainment traffic on Bar- Welcome Home Baskets (page 6) ton Springs Road. Because of that, the plan was obso- lete before the final report was published in April. Last month, Capital Metro announced plans to reroute the Newcomers, homeowners, renters, 803 Rapid buses around the big bus pullout recom- business neighbors mended in the 400 block of South Lamar, at the busiest intersection in the corridor. All Welcome The primary recommenda- (Continued on page 10) Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. Meet the Precinct 3 Candidates Early voting is Oct 24-Nov 4. ZNA has invited the two candidates Precincts 332 and 340 vote at Zilker School (1900 Bluebonnet) in the Travis County Precinct 3 Precinct 342 votes at Commissioner race to speak for Barton Hills School (2108 Barton Hills Dr.) a few minutes at our Oct. 24 meeting. You may also vote at any other Travis County Republican incumbent Gerald Daugherty polling place on election day. is being challenged by Check election info at traviscountyelections.org or call 512-238-VOTE. Democrat David Holmes. Page 2 ZNEWS OCTOBER 2016 School Yard Updates: News from Zilker Elementary and Little Zilker Park Zilker Principal Randall W. Thomson reports: Enrollment at Zilker is up! While some other schools and the district overall have seen a decline in enrollment over the past two years, Zilker is strong with 566 students—the largest enrollment in many years—perhaps ever! We appreciate the continued interest in and support of our school. AISD is conducting preliminary work on another bond election, perhaps as early as November 2017. Neighbors should go to the district's main web site at austinisd.org to find a link there that includes more details and opportunities for community input in the coming months. You’ve seen the flyers, you’re hearing the buzz. Campus Earthworks ZAMBOREE THE SECOND PHASE OF AISD’s effort to stop flood- Zilker Elementary’s annual fall carnival ing of classrooms, redirect water runoff, and pre- is Saturday, October 22, noon-4 pm. vent erosion behind Zilker Elementary School It is at the school, and it is super fun! should be complete by the time you read this. Steps and terraces were built behind the gym This year look for the last fall (see ZNews October 2015). A drainage human gyroscope, inflatable mazes and slides, channel to direct water to the north parking lot dance floor for kids, Hat Creek Burger Co. and has been dug along the top of the bank behind veggie burgers, Roppolo pizza, snow cones from the school and covered with sod. Kona Ice and Flavalicious, CAKE WALK!!, carnival The Zilker PTA’s Sustainability Committee games and prizes, face painting, human foosball. has scheduled workdays in Jabo's garden on Oc- Wristbands $20, tickets 50 cents. tober 20, November 17, and December 8, at 2-4 Other school events: PM. Look for updates on the school’s web site, zilkerelem.org. Please stop in at the front office General PTA meeting, Oct. 18, 7:50 am, to check in if you are on campus during school in the cafeteria hours (until 2:57 PM). BookPeople fundraiser, Nov. 13-19 School will be out for the holidays Because of other work on campus and in Lit- Nov. 21-25 and Dec. 21-Jan. 3 tle Zilker Park, no official fall workday is planned, but see page 4 for info on the Austin Keep up with school events through Parks Foundation volunteer day on November 5. zilkerelem.org/calendar and The PTA and Friends of Little Zilker Park will be ZEN, the Zilker Elementary Newsletter. participating in the Spring It's My Park Day. OCTOBER 2016 ZNEWS Page 3 Little Zilker Park Support the Friends of Little Zilker Park now. Bluebonnet Entry Project Help refurbish the park entry and make the tree planting efforts possible. Wins Funding, Contact [email protected] or Breaks Ground [email protected] to keep up with park projects, planning, and events. THE LONG-AWAITED WORK on the Or donate to the Friends of Little Zilker Park Bluebonnet Lane entrance to Little through the Austin Parks Foundation. Zilker Neighborhood Park, adjacent Visit austinparks.org/sfaform/ to Zilker Elementary School, will support-little-zilker-neighborhood-park/ begin this month. The Friends of Little Zilker (FLZP) has received word from the Editor’s note: Thanks to Gina Diehl, Jill Rhoden, Kristin city parks department that the con- Galindo, Patrick Aziz, and Randy Thomson for contributing tractor is lined up and the materials FLZP, PTA, and school news to these reports. have started to arrive. The project will remove the upper part of the railed ramp, between the playscape and the tennis courts. A more open design will make more room for peo- ple to be near the playscape, protect the playscape from storm runoff, reduce pavement over the tree root zone, and add a new area with benches. The concept started back in 2007, when ZNA and the Zilker PTA joined forces to create a park and school campus master plan and established FLZP to implement it. FLZP gathered community support signatures in the summer of 2015, ZNA contributed $10,000 for match- ing funds, and FLZP applied to the City’s Neighborhood Partnering Program last fall. In February, the Cost Share Award was approved. The work, managed by Austin Parks and Recreation Department, will start the last week of October and run through the end of the year. When the hardscape and drain- age changes are done, FLZP will be organizing several volunteer events to complete the new entry land- scape. Sign up with the Friends of Little Zilker Park now to help refur- bish the park entry and make the tree planting efforts possible. PAGE 4 ZNEWS OCTOBER 2016 Award for Zilker Park South Grow Zone The efforts to restore and beautify the channels by Gail Rothe, ZNA Parks Committee in "South" Zilker Park have been recognized by Keep Austin Beautiful. THE FRIENDS OF ROBERT E. LEE TRIBUTARY The Friends group was nominated for a Keep was formed in the fall of 2014 to support the Austin Beautiful Award, and the panel of judges City's grow zone project in a way that also ad- chose it as a winner in the Beautification Achieve- dresses concerns raised by neighbors and park ment category. Each year Keep Austin Beautiful users (austintexas.gov/blog/grow-zones). The honors the most outstanding environmental efforts tributary borders the road along the sidewalk of individuals, schools, and organizations in eight categories. Winners will be recognized at the annu- and captures rainfall runoff from our neighbor- al awards celebration November 17. The 2016 hoods that then flows into Barton Creek. In Beautify Bash celebration will be at the Umlauf 2015 we added a second channel in the “south” Sculpture Garden, 605 Robert E. Lee, right across Zilker Park area: Old Little Zilker Channel, the road from the REL tributary. which starts at Barton Hills Drive and ends at See the complete list of winners on the KAB Barton Creek, but now carries little flow. website. Thanks to all of them for helping to clean, The Friends group consists primarily of beautify, and protect our Austin environment. residents of Zilker and Barton Hills neighbor- hoods, although we have participants for work- Grow Zone workdays will be scheduled over the days from all over Austin and beyond. To date coming months. If you are interested in we have held 19 workdays and many smaller participating, please contact Gail Rothe at work efforts that total over 500 hours. [email protected] or 512-659-7955. A major goal this fall and winter is to cut down ragweed between the sidewalk and the A New Day for It's My Park Day tributary and in and around the adjacent de- You asked, the Austin Parks Foundation delivered. tention pond. This project involves planting Join parks friends for APF’s first-ever Fall It's these same areas with relatively low-height My Park Day on Saturday, November 5. APF native grasses and other plants that (1) pro- Friends groups are hosting projects like clean- vide greater diversity of native plants in the ups, tree mulching, and planting in parks all over riparian area, (2) stabilize the channel bank, the city.